Publication

Publication

On the occasion of Queen Wilhelmina's fortieth jubilee in 1938, two films appeared that differed from the films that had been made about the royal house up to that point: the compilation film VEERTIG JAREN KONINGIN and a genuine feature film, VEERTIG JAREN. The central focus was not so much on Wilhelmina and the other members of the House of Orange as on the Dutch nation from 1898-1938. Did these films break away from earlier films about the royal family? After discussing how the films came to be made and an analysis of the films themselves, Hogenkamp reaches the conclusion that the film VEERTIG JAREN is a conservative and not entirely successful work. In contrast, VEERTIG JAREN KONINGIN, which has a more conventional form as compilation film, proves to be a refreshing 'experiment'. It highlighted the part played by both unknown and famous Dutch men and women in the country's most recent history. Furthermore, the film attempted to use archive material creatively, which resulted in a famous sequence in which an argument was presented using photos alone.